Clarinet Trio Two (Ullmann-Kupke-Nabicht): Translucent Tones (2002)

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How we rate: our writers tend to review music they like within their preferred genres.

Led by bass clarinetist Gebhard Ullmann, the trio follows up its inaugural release by extending its scope - largely due to the clarinetists’ cunning arrangements and their discerning improvisational exercises. Moreover, the musicians’ applied synergy has hit a zenith of excellence here. While they still inject chamber-like characteristics into a good portion of these seventeen pieces, the band meshes inquisitive lines, with whimsy, humor, and multipart opuses. They supplement their line of attack with heaps and bounds of fetching three-way dialogue and poignant themes. The piece titled “Animalische Stimmen,” features an abundance of animalistic sounds such as repetitive birdcall type motifs. On Nino Rota’s “I Clowns,” the trio renders a lush, yet altogether simplistic melody atop a ragtime style groove. There’s a whole lot of goodness going on here as the artists’ also employ multiphonics amid absorbing exchanges during, “Collective No. 6 and No. 8.” Essentially, their latest effort rings like a comprehensive study in modern jazz clarinet/improvisational fare. The differentiator resides within the musicians’ ability to draw upon diverse influences in concert with their macrobiotic approach. A superb effort! Fervently Recommended!